Queen have been awarded a BRIT Billion Award by the BPI. The BPI, also home to the BRIT Awards, gave the award to the rock icons to celebrate the band’s achievement in passing one billion streams in the UK. Brian May and Roger Taylor received their personalised trophies in the month that Queen's self-titled debut turns 50.
Speaking about the BRIT Billion Award, Queen guitarist Brian May said: “Thank you for presenting Queen with a BRIT Billion Award. We’re grateful to all our fans that support us and continue to enjoy our music. Rock on BPI.” His bandmate Roger Taylor added, “I’m thrilled to accept the BRIT Billion Award on behalf of Queen, celebrating being streamed over a billion times in the UK, which is incredible. I would like to say thanks to everyone who has extracted a morsel of enjoyment from our music. We are still around and we hope to entertain you a little. Thank you.”
The BPI said that Queen’s most-streamed hits included Another One Bites The Dust, Bohemian Rhapsody, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Killer Queen, Radio Ga Ga, Under Pressure, We Are The Champions, We Will Rock You and more. Earlier this week, Classic Rock reported that Queen had five entries in the list of rock and metal bands whose songs had reached a billion or more streams on Spotify. The BRIT Billion Award recognises the band’s streaming achievements in the UK.
